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| Tuesday, 1 July 2003 |
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Indian troops kill four rebel commanders in Kashmir SRINAGAR, India, Monday (AFP) Indian border guards overnight shot dead four commanders of two dominant rebel groups in Indian-administered Kashmir, an official said Monday, claiming the killings as "major success". The killings follow a bloody weekend in the disputed state in which 12 soldiers were gunned down in a suicide attack by two Islamic militants, and another 16 people died in various incidents of separatist-linked violence. The four rebels were killed in the village of Abuhama in the southern Kashmir district of Pulwama, a spokesman for India's Border Security Force (BSF), Tirath Achariya, told AFP. He said the fighting erupted when BSF personnel started laying siege to the sleepy village after receiving information about the presence of the commanders. "As BSF men were in the process of laying cordon, militants holed up inside a hide-out resorted to a heavy volume of firing, which was immediately retaliated," Achariya said. "A fierce gunbattle ensued for a few hours which left four militant commanders dead," he said. He said two of the slain rebels were Pakistani nationals, identifying them as Gulsher Sheikh and Abdullah Bhai. "The two were associated with Jaish-e-Mohammed (rebel group) and working as its battalion and company commanders," he said. Two others - Abdul Razzak and Mohammed Ashraf - were locals associated with restive region's indigenous and most dominant rebel group Hizbul Mujahedin. "Both were working as company commanders for Hizbul in southern Kashmir districts," Achariya said. "It is a major success for the security forces in recent months against militants," he said. The BSF recovered three AK rifles, two pistols, two radio sets and four hand grenades from the scene of the encounter. |
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